Yeddyurappa determined to break away from BJP

Chickmagalur (Karnataka), Oct 4: Former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa Wednesday indicated he was determined to break away from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and float his own outfit.

"It is a closed chapter," BJP's first chief minister in south India told reporters in this Karnataka town, about 200 km from Bangalore, when asked whether he would hold talks with his party leadership over defining his role in the state unit.

Yeddyurappa, who quit chief ministership July last year over mining bribery charges, has been slamming both national and state BJP leaders for not reinstating him as chief minister or appointing him as Karnataka BJP chief.

He said he would go on a tour of the state from Oct 5 to assess the public support for him and decide on floating a new party in December.

Assembly elections in the state are due May next year.

He also dismissed speculation that he was exploring possibility of joining the Janata Party or the Janata Dal-United or the Samajwadi Party.